York. Torrey named a number of California plant species 

 (although the Torrey Pine was named in his honor by someone 

 else). There is also a genus Torreya (California Nutmeg) in Cali- 

 fornia. 



Generic names also follow the general descriptive pattern 

 discussed above, with a few exceptions. Generic names such as 

 Osmorhiza (Sweet Cicely) means "odorous root" in reference 

 to the fragrance of the crushed root of this relative of the 

 C2inot, Lithocarpus (Tan Oak) means "stone fruit" in Greek, 

 an allusion to the hard acorns which, however, are probably no 

 harder than acorns of the true oaks (Quercus spp.). Rhododen- 

 dron means "red tree" in Greek, and this generic name was 

 probably chosen because the first species described in this large 

 genus has red flowers. Many genera also bear commemorative 

 names: Jepsonia is named after an early professor of botany at 

 the University of California, Berkeley, and author of the Manual 

 of the Flowering Plants of California. Eschscholzia is named 

 after a 19th century Russian exploiev, Munzothamnus is named 

 after P. A. Munz, author of ^ California Flora. Lewisia and 

 Clarkia are named after the pair of early 19th century explorers 

 of the American northwest; Raflnesquea and Schmaltzia are 

 both named after the eccentric botanist of the 19th century, 

 Constantine Rafmesque-Schmaltz. Some generic names have 

 geographical connotations, Q.g.,Hesperolinon means "western 

 flax" and refers to a group of species in a western genus closely 

 related to the widespread flax genus Linum. Many generic 

 names, particularly those of Old World plants, are taken from 

 mythology, such as Cassiope, Adonis, and Phoenix. 



Still other generic names refer to supposed medicinal 

 properties of the plants: Scrophularia was named because of 

 its use in treating scrofula; ^fl/vw comes from the Latin salveo, 

 "I save", in reference to the purported Hfesaving abilities of this 

 plant. Other names are from traditional usages that pre-date 

 scientific botany; in essence, these are common names which 

 have come into scientific usage. Among these are Acer (maples), 

 Quercus (oaks), and Pinus (pines). A final category could 

 perhaps be called whimsical names, which suggest that some 



